Lost in the Fog - Critique and Post Processing Input Needed

[Brownbear]

I photographed these this morning and haven't sat on them for a while as I should do. I uploaded them right away because I love fog and mist for the dreamy mood they create, that said I'm not certain so I'd appreciate some feedback on these.

f/8 SS (1/125 and 1/200) Focal length 300 mm

ISO 640 (ouch, I thought I had my ISO set at 100 but exposed to the right (exposures lowered in all) so no noise just grain from the fog I think)

When processing I increased the white and black points far more than I normally do, aiming for pop... With the black point being higher in #2

1.


2.



f/8 SS 1/100 to 1/320 ISO 640 Focal length 95 mm and 65 mm, respectively.

For these two I'd just appreciate hearing if any of the compositions work better than the other as I took quite a few variations of the mountain in the fog. Seeking feedback to learn from and help me narrow things down.

3.



4.



(I also took a horizontal version of #4)


At this point in time I adore #1 and #2, and thinking something is off with my compositions for #3 and #4 or that the light is just too, flat.

Thank you.

[Donald]

Okay. Here goes!

I photographed these this morning and haven't sat on them for a while as I should do.

Why? If you feel you've got something, go for it. As I've written on here many times before, my photography is 99% based on emotion and feeling and 1% on technical knowledge and application. If I 'feel' I've got an image, then I want to show it up here as soon as possible. No sitting around to think about it until the next day.

The first two are full of mood and atmosphere. I think we could spend a long time debating the composition and whether something should be slightly up the frame or down the frame. But the important thing is that the mood is there.

For these two I'd just appreciate hearing if any of the compositions work better than the other as I took quite a few variations of the mountain in the fog.

For No 3, I wonder about cropping a bit from the left hand side to make more of a 5:4 image and move the top of the hill more towards the left of the frame.

With No 4, I (and I know it's just me), would crop that at the top to make a square (1:1) image. That would give more prominence to the trees and also focus attention in on the most interesting bit of the cloud.

So, a couple of ideas to think about. No suggestion that they're the 'right' ideas. Just one person's thoughts.

[Shadowman]

Nice series, I was just commenting in another thread the Great Fog about getting an image to pop in a foggy setting. One way I've learned is to get in close to the subject, obviously you can only get so close to your subjects, but nicely presented. I like images 1-3 as shown but prefer #3 overall, it has that getting close feeling and I would try to pull more detail out of the visible mass if possible; it should look like its breaking free of the fog.

[Brownbear]

Thank you, Donald. Truly appreciated and helpful.

Why?

Because my landscapes are weak and I get caught up in the emotions and beauty of the scene, especially when it's foggy or misty so I lose my ability to look at my compositions objectively. #1 and #2 I was so excited to just see, albeit I was hoping the mountain peak would pop out from the fog. (never happened)

For No 3, I wonder about cropping a bit from the left hand side to make more of a 5:4 image and move the top of the hill more towards the left of the frame.

I can see that. Thank you! At the time I liked the cloud on the left because of the side profile but I can lose it and likely eliminated it in another shot.

With No 4, I (and I know it's just me), would crop that at the top to make a square (1:1) image. That would give more prominence to the trees and also focus attention in on the most interesting bit of the cloud.

Thank you. The why explanation for a square crop is very helpful. I can see the difference and will try it on this one, and the horizontal shots.



Thank you, Donald.

[Brownbear]

Thank you, John.

This is the scene that you once advised I should try drawing to help me see compositions.

Breaking free of the fog, great explanation. I'll give it a try on one but I expect it would be very challenging to do without creating an over processed look because the fog and mist is literally everywhere. ie; hard to isolate the effect to just the trees.

Nice series, I was just commenting in another thread the Great Fog about getting an image to pop in a foggy setting. One way I've learned is to get in close to the subject, obviously you can only get so close to your subjects, but nicely presented. I like images 1-3 as shown but prefer #3 overall, it has that getting close feeling and I would try to pull more detail out of the visible mass if possible; it should look like its breaking free of the fog.

[joebranko]

With regards the composition in 1 and 2 : I prefer #2, but I would move the trees slightly more toward the bottom, but not as much as #1. Maybe crop a bit the bottom of the frame, showing some fog between the trees and the bottom of the frame?

[Brownbear]

Hi Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to advise...

Here is a crop following your suggestion except I made it 16 x 9... I think I prefer this one, too.

With regards the composition in 1 and 2 : I prefer #2, but I would move the trees slightly more toward the bottom, but not as much as #1. Maybe crop a bit the bottom of the frame, showing some fog between the trees and the bottom of the frame?

[joebranko]

Hi Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to advise...

Here is a crop following your suggestion except I made it 16 x 9... I think I prefer this one, too.

Very nice!

[FootLoose]

Nice shots, Christina. As they stand, I prefer the 2nd because the subject is entirely surrounded by the fog, although I agree with Joe that it could be a touch lower in the frame.

I like fog -- although I rarely see it these days -- but when I did, I was usually disappointed when it started to lift because I like the atmosphere it creates so much. So with that in mind, I think 3 and 4 could be improved by cropping a bit off the bottom so that they don't include so much of the area where the fog is thinning. eg

[Rider in the Sky]

I photographed these this morning and haven't sat on them for a while as I should do. I uploaded them right away because I love fog and mist for the dreamy mood they create, that said I'm not certain so I'd appreciate some feedback on these.

f/8 SS (1/125 and 1/200) Focal length 300 mm

ISO 640 (ouch, I thought I had my ISO set at 100 but exposed to the right (exposures lowered in all) so no noise just grain from the fog I think)

When processing I increased the white and black points far more than I normally do, aiming for pop... With the black point being higher in #2

(I also took a horizontal version of #4)

Thank you.

Awesomely dazzling, dreamy......... like the farewell scene "crouchng tiger, hidden dragon........"
where the heroine flies out into the misty mysterious fog of Wu Dang........
or a classic water B&W Chinese scroll painting. Maybe, even a Japanese Sumi-E.

I like all of them.

Perhaps your horizontal version with the clouds cropped may be appreciated too.

[Manfred M]

Christina - I prefer the first shot and perhaps the second, but the last two really don't do much for me compositionally.

When I look at the first two images, the one thing that strikes me is that you are wasting the beautiful textures you have captured by not bringing them out. I played with the first image and set the black and white points and then ran them through Nik Color Efex Pro 2 using the Tonal Contrast and Detail Extractor filters at their default settings. I also ran the images through Nik Dfine to knock down the noise a bit (default settings, again). I then set the gamma (mid-point slider) at 1.3, 1.0 and 0.7 to give a range of lighter to darker images.

I'm not suggesting these are being better or worse than what you did, just different and something to discuss.


1. Gamma 1.3





2. Gamma 1.0





3. Gamma 0.7



Just open the first one in Litebox and then scroll through them with the arrow keys in Litebox to see the differences.

[Mike Buckley]

These are wonderful, Christina. There are a million viable ways to handle the post-processing of these scenes, so go with what you like today and be happy to revisit them years from now once you have settled upon a style you feel at home with.

Until you feel at home with your vision, you'll always be struggling. That's not a criticism; just an understandable observation that applies to anyone. Most important, all the feedback in the world likely will not help you arrive at your vision; it has to come from within with no care whatsoever about what anyone else thinks about it.

Just to add to your current unsettled view, these would also look great in monochrome...but only if you feel at home with that style.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Christina,

I will agree with what Mike has said and it really comes down to how you wish to treat each image.

Personally my favourite is your crop in post 7 but I would have put the trees lower and more to the left, but it's so subjective.

[IzzieK]

I like them all Christina for the mood you brought into it...must be cold-ish your way. I can already feel the atmosphere around. I rather like the gamma treatments and differences that Manfred illustrates....another learning experience for sure, and I saw that same movie Vic (Rider In the Sky) mentioned. It is one of my favourites...fact I bought the DVD version of it. So I can relate to his thoughts in his comment. My favourite in your post here is #1 though my thoughts of improvement has already been demonstrated by Manfred (in a different way than I thought possible.) Sorry to not be able to contribute much suggestion as I can only marvel at your presentation here...

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all.

My apologies but I don't know how to insert individual quotes in one reply, so I've simply replied below...

Joe

Thank you. Truly appreciated.

Greg
Thank you for advising and sharing your edits which I like. Indeed cropping makes sense as my thoughts were “lost in the fog” so trying to include a foreground element threw me off. Best wishes for some foggy days!

Vic
Awesomely dazzling, dreamy......... like the farewell scene "crouching tiger, hidden dragon........"
Jeez, nicest compliment for a landscape ever… Thank you. I think I’ll rent that movie to see what it’s all about. And when my PP skills improve I’ll try inserting a flying martial artist into my imagery.

Manfred

Thank you, kindly… I appreciated your honesty as I’m struggling with the other two, too.
Also truly appreciated are your demonstrations with specific guiding points to learn from.
In my edits (reposted) I’ve played with these settings… However I’m leaning towards the greens not being such a dark green because they are not so dark in true life, yet at the same time I see the pop you speak of. I’ll keep experimenting and find my balance somewhere, someday.

Mike
Thank you, as always for your guidance and thoughtful words. I agree, and hopefully one day I’ll be so sure of my vision I will not care whatsoever about what anyone else thinks about it. For now the feedback helps me see what others see that I don’t see. I know when I like one of my bird images, so hopefully I’ll get there with my landscapes.

I thought about monochrome and the idea is appealing but first I have to be able to figure out what my colour versions should look like. The colours in #3 and #4 are too, pastel like and I don’t know why this is.

Grahame
Thank you. I like my crop the best, too. Except perhaps for the new version included here?. I left lots of space in several of the images for that lost feeling, which is included in the negative space and a perfect fit for how I feel about this set of images (actually I do quite like #1 and #2, and #5) I likely have a shot with the trees in the lower left hand corner and will visit it one day.

Izzie
Thank you, as always for commenting, and for advising on your preferences (#1 truly lost in the fog). Yes, the fog can chill one to the bones but this kind of weather is well worth braving for the mood it creates. I’ll have to rent that movie. Sending you a great big virtual hug!

Notes:
I’ve replaced #3 with a different shot taken closer and with more fog in the scene.
I’ve replace #4 with a square crop as suggested by Donald so it is easy to compare to the crop Greg has kindly demonstrated.

And to finish this thread off, another shot of the trees lost in the fog…

A truer black point as per Manfred’s suggestion (but still not true black). Also in this version instead of adding clarity and darkening the shadows via the curves tool to bring out the fog and in an attempt to minimize noise from post processing (fog seems to be extraordinarily delicate) I lowered the highlights in LR using on the top, bottom and right hand sides.

#5



Thank you to all!

[JBW]

I was unsure how to verbally express my thoughts. All i did was add an overlay of neon edge detect at 20% opacity using Gimp to your original shot.
It seems to me to add a little more feeling?

[IzzieK]

Christina, when you press the Quick Reply button, if you look at the option at the top of your messege window, at the far left side is an icon of a film strip then, another icon at the very end. Click that and the words quotes will appear twice. There is a blinker that appears in the middle of those two words. This is where you insert your text. Got it???
Cheers.

[dragon76]

I photographed these this morning and haven't sat on them for a while as I should do. I uploaded them right away because I love fog and mist for the dreamy mood they create, that said I'm not certain so I'd appreciate some feedback on these.

f/8 SS (1/125 and 1/200) Focal length 300 mm

ISO 640 (ouch, I thought I had my ISO set at 100 but exposed to the right (exposures lowered in all) so no noise just grain from the fog I think)


(I also took a horizontal version of #4)



Thank you.

Christina

They are all great shots but I like #4 a lot so I did a little bit of processing and hope you don't mind.




I like to see the horizontal version as well.

Cheers

Dean

[Mike Buckley]

Izzie's method of inserting quotes in a message works well but does not inherently identify who is being quoted. If you want to identify who is being quoted, open a second window displaying the thread. Click "Reply with Quote" and copy and paste the quote into the first window you already had open. Then return to the second window and repeat the process involving "Reply with Quote" involving a different post.

[rachel]

The second one in particular I love!

I also like Brian's version and what Manfred has done to #1